g reektown in Toronto is an area that is often referred to in Canada and elsewhere as an ethnic ghetto. Ghettos, Little Italys, and Chinatowns are terms used to describe groups deemed to be different. These terms transform complex so- cial landscapes into simplistic, often polarized, divisions. They do not reflect the diverse ethnicities within a city and instead define political boundaries. In Greektown, street signs are in English and Greek, and blue and white Greek flags line the avenue. The ‘Taste of the Danforth’, a street festival hosting a ‘Greek Stage’ spon- sored by Government of Greece, draws from the animated fruit and vegetable stands and excellent Greek restaurants. Recently, non-Greek shops and restaurant have begun to open in the area. The architectural presence of one group, the Muslim community, appeared at first as store fronts on Danforth Avenue. The emergence of the Madina Masjid mosque, diagonally across the Donlands/Danforth inter- section from the historic Greek Orthodox Church, began as small architectural interventions in an existing building. The mosque has become the nexus of the Muslim commu- nity and its store fronts, securing their engagement with the festival and their migration west along Danforth be- yond Donlands. What can architecture, renovations and store fronts teach us the about the past and present relations between these two groups that terminology can not? Greektown no lon- ger seems to describe the complex organization of this civic landscape, perhaps it never did. c The Problem With Littletowns. Tom Strickland
top: Madina Masjid mosque bottom: Metamorfosis Tou Sotiros Greek Orthodox church
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architecture and land
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